All He Really Needs (4 page)

Four

M
iracle or no, she wasn’t going to sit
around here just waiting for…for what? For Griffin to come out of the office
and pounce on her?

She needed a little emotional distance. A way to remind herself
that Cain Enterprise’s new CEO was now her boss. Not her lover. A way to
reestablish the professional footing of the boss/executive assistant
relationship.

Her very first boss, for example, had always insisted she call
him sir or Mr. Thornton. And she’d never once made out with him at her desk.
Never mind that Mr. Thornton was seventy-four, humpbacked and mean-spirited.
Still, maybe there was something to this formal professionalism.

Maybe if she just focused on the job, she’d be able to push
aside her personal desires. So she did the only thing she knew how to do in a
situation like this. She did her job.

She started with the basics. She contacted Marion, Griffin’s
former assistant, and had her send over his schedule. Marion clearly hadn’t
heard anything yet from Griffin because she seemed to think the request came
from Dalton.

After that, Sydney generated a short action list. Things that
had to get done to ease this transition. When Dalton came back, she wanted him
to be impressed as hell by how smoothly everything had run in his absence.

She sent everything over to her iPad and marched to the office
door, knocking only briefly before letting herself in.

She found Griffin sitting behind Dalton’s desk, a file open on
the blotter in front of him. He didn’t look up when she walked in. His
hair—which always looked a little scruffy—was even more disheveled than usual.
He held a pencil in his hand, tapping the eraser end against the desk at a
frenetic pace. His expression was a mask of intensity and she felt a little
shiver go through her. Despite his blasé attitude, he took this very
seriously.

Did she know him at all? Sure, she knew many things about him.
Like that he had a scar on his neck and that he didn’t like chocolate but would
eat anything with caramel. And that he watched the
Star
Wars
trilogy every year on Christmas. But was knowing all of that
stuff the same as really knowing him?

Confused, she automatically took a step backward, intending to
sneak out and then knock, but his head snapped up and he saw her standing there,
clutching her notes and her iPad in front of her. She was struck again by his
expression. By the fierceness of it.

Then his countenance cleared, a smile slipped back onto his
lips and he looked like himself again—all easy, laid-back charm. Nevertheless,
she was left with the feeling that perhaps the Griffin she was used to seeing
was the mask and the intensely focused Griffin was the real man. God, that was
an unsettling thought.

“You need something?” he asked, his voice oozing that kind of
breezy cool that she’d been aiming for on the phone with Tasha.

“No…I mean, um, yes. But I can come back later. Dalton never
minded if I just walked in. Is that okay? If it’s not, I can just—”
Stop talking!
she ordered herself. Jeez, she’d never
been the type to vomit words when she was nervous. So what was up now? She blew
out a breath. This was just another first day with a new boss. Nothing to worry
about.

Except, no matter how she sliced it, this was not just another
new boss. This was her lover. A man who knew her body intimately. A man who’d
driven her to the heights of passion over and over. She’d been vulnerable with
him in a way she’d never been able to be with another man. She’d only allowed
herself that vulnerability because he wasn’t a part of her real life. He was
part of her nighttime fantasy world. Now, the two disparate parts of her life
were becoming inextricable intertwined and, frankly, it terrified her.

“Sir—” she began, thinking of Mr. Thornton “—just tell me what
you expect from me.”

Griffin slowly leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs
out in front of him and bringing one hand up to stroke his thumb thoughtfully
across his mouth, giving her the impression he was trying to hide the fact that
he was laughing at her expense.

“Sir, huh?” he asked in a mocking voice.

She ground her teeth. He was definitely enjoying this. “How
would you like me to address you?”

A slow smile spread across his face. “I’ll think about that and
let you know.”

“Shall I come back later?”

“It’s fine. Come in whenever you want.”

“I can knock first. Next time I’ll just knock first.” Again
with the babbling! What was wrong with her?

“Whatever makes you comfortable.”

Humph. If only that were possible.

She flipped open the cover of her iPad, causing it to flicker
awake and reveal the page of notes she’d made at her desk.

“First off, sir, there are—”

“Okay, I’ve thought about it. Stop calling me sir.”

She gritted her teeth, swallowed and tried again for the formal
professionalism. “Whatever you wish, Mr. Cain.”

As if he was purposefully baiting her—and he probably was—his
smile broadened. “I’d like you to call me Griffin.”

“Fine. There are some things we should go over to ease the
transition.”

“Okay. Hit me.”

He flashed her another one of those amused smiles and she
cringed. She wished now that she hadn’t made such a big deal about the name
thing. Instead of impressing him with her efficiency and professionalism, she
was acting like a total dork. “First off, I’d, um…like to go over Dalton’s
schedule for the week.”

“I thought Dalton had been focusing on finding our sister.”

“He was, but he still had to run the company.” She looked down
at the calendar app. “The weekly officers’ meetings and the—”

“But,” Griffin interrupted her, “I don’t have to be able to do
everything Dalton did. No one’s going to expect that of me. At least not at
first—and maybe never.”

Sydney had to swallow a laugh. He was right, of course;
everyone would expect less of him because of his reputation as a dilettante and
playboy.

As if he could read her mind, he flashed her one of his
charming grins and gestured modestly to his chest. “
I
wouldn’t even have this job if it wasn’t for my family
connections. So nobody is going to expect much. Everyone knows I’ll need help,
especially these first few weeks. I can hand off most of the daily running of
the company to someone else while I focus on finding the heiress. Once we find
her, the pressure will let up a bit.”

She’d only been thinking about Dalton’s resignation in terms of
how it would affect her. She hadn’t skipped ahead yet to the broader
ramifications of how it would affect the whole company. When she did think about
it, it terrified her. Cain Enterprises was a billion-dollar company. It employed
countless people. He’d not only thought about all those ramifications, but also
had thought of them quickly enough to start working on a plan.

She nodded. “Okay. In that case, shall I arrange a meeting
between you and…” She let her words trail off as she waited for him to supply
a name.

“Merkins.”

“Merkins?” She shifted her shoulder as she considered. “Not
DeValera?”

Joe DeValera was the chief of operations, so he was the more
natural choice.

“No, Merkins has a better head on her shoulders.”

“DeValera won’t like that you’re handing over responsibility to
the CFO instead of to him. As COO, he’ll expect to handle things while you get
your feet under you.”

“All the more reason he doesn’t need more power. Write up a
memo to all the executives explaining the decision. Make sure it sounds like
DeValera’s current responsibilities are too important and that no one else can
do his job.”

Sydney nodded, quickly taking a few notes for the memo she’d
later write and send to Griffin for approval. As she did so, she couldn’t help
being impressed by his light hand when it came to managing the executive
staff.

Something of her surprise must have shown in her expression
because Griffin asked, “You disagree with my decision?”

She finished writing her notes as she shook her head. “No. On
the contrary, I think it’s a brilliant strategy.” Griffin looked at her with his
eyebrows raised, like he wanted her to say more, so she kept talking. “DeValera
is very much your father’s man. He’s a good COO but a bit of a narcissist.” As
soon as the words were out of her mouth, she cringed. “I shouldn’t have said
that.”

“I agree completely. And I don’t trust him. With Hollister’s
health failing and this stupid quest of his—which, thankfully, no one outside
the family knows about—the company was vulnerable enough before Dalton decided
to step down. I don’t want DeValera getting any ideas.”

“That’s very smart.” She cringed a little, realizing she
sounded like a yes-man.

“Then why do you look doubtful?”

She tilted her head, considering her next words. Just how
honest did she want to be here? She never hesitated to give her opinion when
Dalton asked for it, but he rarely asked.

“Out with it,” Griffin ordered, his playful grin never slipping
from his face.

“I just didn’t expect you to have such insight into the inner
workings of the company. That’s all.”

The smiled that twisted his lips suddenly looked just a little
bitter. “Right.”

“The strategy is brilliant,” she hastened to reassure him.

“You just didn’t think I was capable of it.”

“It’s not—” But she fumbled, unsure how to finish her sentence.
And feeling just a smidge annoyed at him. “Look, you give off an air
of…privileged indolence. I’m not the only one in the company who thinks this.
Anyone would tell you the same thing.” But suddenly she found she couldn’t quite
look him in the eye. Disconcerted by the idea that she didn’t know him at all,
she flipped the cover of her iPad closed, running her finger across the smooth
blue leather. “But clearly you’re not that guy. Obviously you haven’t been
ignoring the daily office politics of the company. Otherwise you wouldn’t have
noticed that Merkins has amassed a really great team or that DeValera is a
power-hungry narcissist.”

“Hey, narcissist is your word, not mine.”

Her gaze snapped back to his and she saw that his smile hadn’t
changed at all. But perhaps his eyes were crinkling just a tad around the
edges.

“All I’m saying—” her voice took on a defensive edge, but she
didn’t try to hide it. It wasn’t her fault he was that good at hiding his true
nature “—is that you can’t spend all that time and energy creating a persona to
fool everyone and then be annoyed when you actually do fool everyone.”

*

Griffin knew Sydney was right. He also knew her
annoyance with him was totally justified. He’d kept a lot of things from her.
There were sides of himself he shared with almost no one. Things he hadn’t ever
meant to share, even with her.

When he’d first started working for Cain Enterprises, he’d been
pegged as the slacker in the family. At first, he hadn’t courted that image on
purpose. He simply hadn’t wanted the job. But he had wanted the inheritance that
would one day be his, and his father had made it clear that he’d never have one
if he didn’t accept the other. As it turned out, being a piss-poor executive
left him plenty of time to work for Hope
2
O. Being known as the lazy one had made
his life easier. Everyone he knew thought him either incapable or unwilling to
work, so no one ever expected jack from him. No one within Cain Enterprises,
anyway.

Generally speaking, he was okay with people thinking he was an
ass and a playboy. So why was he annoyed that Sydney believed that, too?

Did he honestly think she somehow looked past the image he’d
carefully cultivated to the man beneath? Would he want her to if she could?

It was hardly a fair question.

And Sydney was still standing before him, waiting for his
response. And also looking rather nervous. She kept rubbing the pad of her thumb
across the edge of her iPad cover as she frowned down at it as if she couldn’t
quite figure out where it had come from.

Finally, she straightened her shoulders and said, “If that’s
all?”

He pushed himself to his feet and sighed. “You’re right. And
I’m not annoyed.” Maybe if he said it often enough, he’d believe it. “I have no
reason to be. If I act like a jerk, I have no one to blame but myself if that’s
how people see me.”

Her expression was guarded, so he couldn’t tell whether or not
he’d placated her when she said, “Fine. I’ll make that appointment for you with
Merkins and have a draft of the letter to the officers.”

“And let’s see if we can get the board up here for a meeting by
this evening. They’ve all seen that email from Dalton this morning. I don’t want
to give them too much time to think about things.”

She had her iPad out again, making notes. After a second, she
glanced up. “You might not realize this, but Dalton usually gives at least one
week’s notice because several of the board members—”

“Are out of town? Yes, I know. We’ll video conference them in.
Before we do anything else, we need to get me confirmed as interim CEO. Promise
them it’ll be a short meeting. I don’t want to give them time to debate the
alternatives.”

“Very good.”

“Also, I’ll need to meet with Marion this afternoon and let her
know I’ve changed positions.”

“Will she expect to move up with you?”

“Probably not. She’s used to coasting by without doing too much
work. Besides, we’ll need her to hold down the fort in the office of the VP of
International Marketing until we can find someone else to fill that job.”

She nodded, then closed the iPad again.

“Sydney—” he coaxed before she could vanish for good.

But she ignored the tone he’d used.

“Shall I schedule the meeting with Merkins for first thing in
the morning? Say, eight o’clock?”